UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State women's soccer team has been selected as the favorite to win the 2022 Big Ten Conference championship alongside Rutgers, according to the annual preseason poll of the conference's head coaches.
The Nittany Lions have been picked as the preseason favorites every year since 2003. For the first time in the Big Ten Preseason Poll history, there has been a tie for first place with Penn State and Rutgers leading the list.
Under the direction of head coach Erica Dambach, the Nittany Lions have won 11 Big Ten regular season championships and four Big Ten Tournament championships as she enters her 16th season as Penn State's head coach.
The two-time National Coach of the Year led Penn State to its first national championship in program history in 2015 and a national runner-up finish in 2012.
Dambach begins the season with 243 wins and has led Penn State to 15 consecutive NCAA tournaments. Penn State has made an appearance in the NCAA tournament in each of the last 27 seasons.
Last season, Penn State advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament, marking the seventh time in eight seasons the Nittany Lions have advanced to at least the third round of the tournament.
Seniors Penelope Hocking, Payton Linnehan and Ally Schlegel were named Big Ten Players to Watch this season.
Hocking is a fifth-year senior transfer from USC where she played from 2018-2021. She is a two-time All-American, four-time All-Pacific Region honoree and four-time All-Pac-12 honoree.
She appeared in 72 games with 53 starts for the Trojans. In 2021, she became USC's all-time leading scorer by surpassing the program record of 48 career goals, breaking a mark which had stood for 21 years. Her 54 career goals are the 12th most in Pac-12 history.
Linnehan enters her fourth season with the Nittany Lions. In Fall 2021, she scored a season-high seven goals and tacked on three assists to tie her career-season best 17 points, which she set her sophomore year.
In 2020-21, she was named Second Team All-Big Ten. Then in 2019, she collected numerous league accolades after a standout freshman campaign. She scored the game-winning goal in overtime to beat Michigan in the conference tournament title match. For her efforts she was designated to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, Big Ten All-Tournament Team and as the Big Ten Tournament MVP.
A repeat Big Ten Player to Watch, senior captain Schlegel also enters her fourth season with the Nittany Lions. Last season she led PSU in scoring with ten goals. She added four assists to tie Sam Coffey with 24 points on the season.
In Fall 2021, Schlegel collected her third All-North Region honor and her third All-Big Ten honor of her career.
The Nittany Lions open the 2022 season on Thursday, August 18 against Georgetown at 7 p.m. on Jeffrey Field.
To stay up-to-date with Penn State women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram, @PennStateWSOC, and 'like' the team on Facebook.
